Warren Beatty

A veritable legend visits “Happy Sad Confused” this week.  The story of American moviemaking and celebrity in the 20th century would be woefully incomplete without a chapter devoted to Warren Beatty. He’s counted John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as friends. He was trained by Stella Adler, discovered by Elia Kazan, battled with studio heads, flirted with running for public office, and was perhaps the last person to see Marilyn Monroe alive. Beatty is a delightful set of contradictions. He’s a charming storyteller who hasn’t done interviews in nearly 20 years. He’s a self-admitted control freak who talks endlessly about how much he values collaboration. He’s a quintessential hunky leading man with the soul of a comedian. Beatty is back in the public eye with “Rules Don’t Apply” (out November 23rd), a dramedy set in the waning days of the studio system and just as the sexual revolution was about to transform America.  The film stars Beatty as Howard Hughes alongside Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich. This chat goes everywhere, from Beatty’s uneasy relationship with celebrity, why he turned down such classics as “The Godfather”, “Kill Bill”, “Boogie Nights” and “Superman”, to his take on the state of politics and the film business today.